Benchmark Amps

[bluegrassphile]

Anyone know the approximate price for the Benchmark AHB2 amp? The website says they're out of the amp due to demand.

[bluegrassphile]

Never mind, it's in the other Benchmark thread. $2995.

[hifinutt]

read a review recently which was not very complemantary about these amps at all . failed to impress was the conclusion from a very respected mag

[bluegrassphile]

read a review recently which was not very complemantary about these amps at all . failed to impress was the conclusion from a very respected mag

Thanks for the heads up.

[Randy Myers]

I have read other reviews that praise the Benchmark amps. I believe they just got put on Stereophile mags A list. I have never listen to them but I have had one of their DACs. Benchmark is very good equipment!

https://www.stereophile.com/content/...ion-power-amps

They actually got the rating as best for the dollar...

[Anatta]

I have never listen to them but I have had one of their DACs. Benchmark is very good equipment!

A comparison with your T+A AMP 8 would be interesting. They're about the same price I think.

[Randy Myers]

Very close in pricing. The T+A is a tad more. As I said, I have never heard the Benchmark amplifier. I know Benchmark is good equipment, but it also was not my cup of tea. I did have two of their DACs; I bought a model and a new generation one was released very quickly so they arranged to upgrade it for me.

I thought they were good gear, but I also thought the sound was a bit sterile, not as musical as I prefer. A friend of mine (who writes for Stereophile actually) loves his Benchmark DAC. The funny thing is my friend did a review of the T+A DAC and gave it his absolute top rating, which is amazing when you consider that he did not even try the T+A's best capability, how it handles DSD . I felt that the T+A was much more musical to me, plus more technically advanced (DSD512, separate chips for PCM and DSD, etc.). I believe the same can be said for the amplifiers.

Therefore I will jump off the deep end and say the T+A amplifier would probably also display the same characteristics. To me, for my ears, the T+A would be a better way to go... so even though I have not heard the Benchmark amplifier I have heard many amps and the T+A is one of the best that I have heard.

By the way, at this point in time I would still offer my T+A amp for sale... my end plans are to have both my SET amplifiers and a good back up SS amp. The T+A or the McIntosh would either fit the bill. So long as the McIntosh has not sold I will still sell the T+A. If either sell the other is instantly off the market ...

[Denver]

read a review recently which was not very complemantary about these amps at all . failed to impress was the conclusion from a very respected mag

Which magazine?

[Denver]

It has been about a year and a half since I plugged in my Benchmark amp. It is one of many pieces of Benchmark gear in my system. It replaced a First Watt F6. This was no contest.
Last fall, I purchased a pair of Benchmark speaker cables(speakon to locking banana). What I had been using with the F6, and the Ahb2, was Shunyata Venom cables(spade to spade). After a 30 day trial with the Benchmark cables, the Shunyata cables were sold.
in December, I added the Benchmark LA4. It replaced a Audio by Van Alstine T10 RB tube preamp with phono section. Since Benchmark does not make a phono preamp, I purchased a AVA phono preamp, which is the same as the phono section in the T10. I also added the Benchmark balanced connectors between the AHB2 and the LA4.
Each component was auditioned separately, and for at least a month before something was sold.
My system is now cleaner and quieter. I can now listen at about 80db, which was not possible with the First Watt. I no longer wonder if i am listening to the amp, and preamp, or the music.